tacone/progressive-timeout.js

better javascript timeouts

progressive-timeout.js

Will execute a callback with a (factor) increasing delay

Auto looping

The passed callback will be automatically called every 50ms to 4000ms, with an increment of 2x each iteration

var t = new ProgressiveTimeout(function(){ console.log(':)') }, 50, 4000,2);
t.start();
//.....
t.stop(); //will stop looping;
t.start(); //will start again with a delay of 50ms, then 100ms, ..
//....
t.start(); //will execute immediately and then resume from 50ms delay

Manual loop

You can also programmatically invoke the callback, which will be executed after progressively increasing delay.

var t = new ProgressiveTimeout(function(){ console.log(':)') }, 50, 4000,2);
t.next(); //will execute immediately
t.next(); //will wait 50ms and then execute
t.next(); //will wait 100ms and then execute
t.reset();
t.next(); //will execute immediately
t.next(); //will wait 50ms and then execute

This kind of looping is handy with ajax calls, as it will wait for the response from the server before starting the next iteration (thus somewhat adapting to the server load).

jQuery example:

var t = new ProgressiveTimeout(function(){ 
    $.get('/get-me-a-sandwich.php').done(function(data){
        // .. do something with the data
        t.next();
    });    
}, 50, 4000,2);